The present invention relates generally to a protective device or boot for removable attachment to the leg of a horse.
Having reference to the prior art patents noted above, these prior art patents disclose that it has been generally known to provide a protective device or boot structure which may be applied to the leg of a horse as a bandage to afford treatment of a leg portion with medication, and for the protection of a leg portion against damage by externally applied impact forces while the horse is participating in a rigorous activity such as jumping, galloping and the like.
Such devices or boot have commonly been fabricated to provide a structure as previously known in U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,116 in which the bandage or boot is comprised of a flexible outside backing layer of a plastic sheet material, and an inner layer of foamed-plastic material which forms a cushion that is peripherally secured to the outer layer. The inner layer is in the form of a mat having passage-forming grooves opposed on opposite sides of the mat with regularly distributed perforations opening through the grooves to enable sweat to pass directly along the animal's leg and also after passage through the perforations between the inner and outer layer and exit at the margin of the bandage. This patent also discloses the use of fastening bands or straps which are integrally formed with the material of the outer layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,405,506 also discloses a protective device or boot which embodies an outer plastic shell which is bonded to a compressible inner lining, and the concept of a limited use of apertures which extend entirely through the outer plastic layer and the inner-cushioning layer to provide a passage from the outside environment to the surface of the horse's leg.
Applicant has found through extensive field tests and consideration of the presently available devices, that in the case of protective devices and boots for the legs of horses that are engaged in activities which require the expenditure of a relatively high degree of exercise and energy, the evaporation and disposal of the generated sweat in the area protected by the device or boot becomes an extremely serious problem, for the reason that its accumulation can cause injury due to burning in the boot area. In this respect, the structure as known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,116 has proved relatively ineffective for the reason that the sweat evaporation or removal path is extremely long and circuitous. In the case of the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,405,506, the suggested apertures are relatively limited with respect to the entire area of boot engagement with the horse's leg. In the present invention, burning and damage to the horse's leg is obviated by providing throughgoing perforations which extend through the inner and outer layers throughout the entire area of contact between the boot and the horse's leg, and are so arranged that short, direct evaporation channels are established between the covered portions of the horse's leg and the surrounding external environment, and that burning due to sweat accumulation becomes substantially non-existent.
A further feature of applicant's invention resides in the arrangement and structure of the fastening bands or straps wherein their strength is increased by a fabric insert, and slippage is eliminated by providing transversely extending ridges which are longitudinally spaced of the band or strap. A clamping device is arranged to engage the strap between these ridges and thus eliminate the possibility of slipping and loosening of the holding device for the boot.
It has also been found that when the boot overlies the fetlock joint, parallel arranged bands will be angularly disposed in their attached position and that tension stresses will be unevenly distorted in the band in such a manner that there will be a tendency for the band to rupture at its edge portions. By initially positioning the bands in this area at an angle with respect to the parallel bands, the bands in the fetlock joint area will have their tension stress forces more uniformly distributed and thus decrease the possibility of breakage.